Review: ‘Murder Most Foul’

Margaret Rutherford brings considerable assurance to the third Agatha Christie thriller to cast the doughty oldtimer in the role of Miss Marple, the eccentric amateur sleuth.

Margaret Rutherford brings considerable assurance to the third Agatha Christie thriller to cast the doughty oldtimer in the role of Miss Marple, the eccentric amateur sleuth.

Miss Marple is the lone member of a murder jury who holds out for acquittal. Armed only with her experience in amateur mystery theatricals, she proceeds to unsnarl the case and prove herself far more professional than the investigating police.

The picture [from the novel Mrs McGinty’s Dead] for all its comedy delight and charm does not quite hold up to its predecessors. Miss Marple begins to wear a little thin as she retraces many of the same comedy situations and even some similar dialog.

Stringer Davis again plays the confused partner with a charming personality performance and Charles Tingwell completes the trio as the young inspector who ends up with the credit for solving the crime even though he flails Miss Marple all the way.